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Perhaps the disappointing aspect is the lack of consistency across the country. I have been on Virgin in different parts of the country and always had a speed at least of the stated top speed. I was upgraded from 50mb to 70mb last year and took advantage of a cheap monthly deal so I can't complain. In terms of this package though it is hard to see the real need. What kind of data rates do modern online games use these days in addition to a Twitch broadcast? Reply0

@Eldritch good call on that one! Next they will be offering golden sundials like the piiman games!

At least everyone starts at a base level - I think the competition will be healthy. Is there any news on the date or specs for the Mac version? I am going to guess my mid 2007 iMac isn't going to handle this one!! Reply+3

Can totally understand where @pmj85 is coming from there! We all spend significant amounts of money on hardware, regardless of which manufacturer we use. The fact you can remove the sticker isn't the point, hardly fills you with confidence if they can't even put a sticker on straight!

The 5K looks very interesting and could be the best gaming Mac for a long time... I can't imagine the performance at that resolution is going to be stellar. I see they do the R9 M295 as a £200 option, any opinions out there on that? My iMac is now 7 years old and has just been upgraded to Yosemite - probably the last supported OS upgrade it will have - still can't complain after all that time, still runs well! Reply0

It seems I am alone in actually liking Onlive? My daughter loves Lego Harry Potter which we can play on the computer or on the big TV depending on what we are up to. The micro console is so small I can cart it upstairs too if I need to which is nice and she always has her latest save there no matter where we log in. I use a power line adapter for a wired connection and find the experience excellent although I admit it was rather sucky over wifi.

If it all comes to a crashing end I won't be bitter. I have had my fun for not much money - hell I bought some crap physical media games in the past that cost more. Graphically it isn't quite the console experience some expect although it isn't bad via the micro console but it is good enough most of the time.

Onlive and it's contemporaries all face issues with infrastructure and the like but, like anything, it has to start somewhere and it seems likely the big players are watching with interest. Sony have paid a lot (too much) for a similar service and I think it is in Onlive's benefit to partner up at some point with one of the big players out there. Google, Facebook, who knows - seems like a natural extension to their businesses. Reply-1

Stu Campbell hasn't popped up to say what he said in his blog. Sorry for the blatant copy and paste but copyright to WoS....

Eurogamer, for example, takes a big dump on the Speccy's birthday cake by calling on Julian Rignall (editor of a C64 magazine), Steve Jarratt (editor of a C64 magazine), Gary Penn (writer on a C64 magazine), Gary Liddon (writer on a C64 magazine), Jason Page (a C64 coder) and Paul Glancey (writer on a C64 magazine) – with only some three-year-old quotes from the sadly-deceased Jonathan "Joffa" Smith holding up the Speccy's end of the debate – to come to the startling opinion that the C64 is deemed the superior machine. Reply0

1. It isn't as if you bought it as IAPs, the original app was self contained and paid for.
2. I don't have it but I can't see why it needs an internet connection - why can't they just drop the online support?
3. A few people have said this isn't unusual - remember it isn't just some multiplayer part of the game being dropped - the message is that the whole app will no longer work and I suspect few used it as a multiplayer game anyhow.
4. They have the shame to be still selling it - anyone could go out now and easily drop £10 on the app and IAPs only to find it stops working in less than a month.
5. Over at the Touch Arcade forums a few people have said they have contacted Apple and they will honour refunds (interesting as the refunds will come from EA so get your requests in quick!)
6. If this really is the digital revolution, I don't want to be part of it. Having said that EA are in the minority so maybe it won't be so bad after all!! Reply+1

As has been said already, the most important factor is hardware support. The fact is that the two devices mentioned here wouldn't support UK LTE regardless of whether our coverage was 100%. Besides, it feels like we have never quite 'got there' with the 3G rollout - what chance do we have with 4G? Reply0

A lot of you have already hit the nail on the head. For me KZ1 was something really ambitious, after all the PS2 wasn't blessed with great FPS games and it was nice that we could have as 'our' Halo. I think the whole Halo killer hype came from the press rather than Sony or the studio. It looked pretty amazing in terms of the artwork and production and was one of the best looking 'still shot' games.

Once things started moving however it was clear the engine just wasn't up to it. If only they had made KZ with the Black engine... I appreciated the slower pace but it seemed to lack the advanced AI that had been raved about.

Multiplayer was hugely enjoyable although probably rubbish by today's standards. I wasted many hours battling with the network adapter playing this one.

I think a straight port is disappointing though, at least sort the framerate out. Reply+1

I don't kow if the iPad version is due out today, the only reference at Onlive is that other tablets and phones, read iOS, are coming soon. It is obviously nearly ready as most demos I have seen use the iPad. Should be interesting though, looking forward to it. Reply+1

It is a pity iOS isn't as well catered for without having to jailbreak. It would be nice playing some of the classics on an iCade or similar. At least there is growing support from devs releasing retro stuff (Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger etc.) so you can play classics and feel self righteous too. Special mention to Elite Systems who have their Spectrum emulator in the app store along with a whole load of games you can buy for not very much - they appear to be branching out into other machines too. Not quite the same as open emulation as shown on Android but it is better than nothing... Reply0

I hate you use the phrase but two magical games - they must be because I took the time to complete both. The first time Yorda takes your hand or the first time you see a Colossus - great gaming moments for me. It is great to see so many people here loving the games too.

I never found the framerate to be a killer in either, though it is noticeably variable in SotC so a solid framerate should make these even more of a joy to play.

I am not too bothered about the score really but as a collection of this calibre - hard to see how anything other than 10 was considered. Reply+1

Yep, the compressed video is my biggest issue with the service. I don't like how the colours get washed out either but I guess it will be up to the consumer to decide whether or not that is something they find acceptable. I will be interested to see how it works over a wired connection (I wonder if WiFi is throttled as they always issue a warning about it on log in) via their gaming box. I hope the better scaling of my TV has a positive effect on the picture.

Having played on the US service I would say this is pretty exciting. The fact you can try games for free, switch between them quickly and have the whole social system built-in makes the experience quite compelling. Lag has never been a factor though the graphics need to sharpen up a bit to meet the claim of HD gaming. Fingers crossed the UK servers will only improve the service. Amazed they didn't partner Virgin rather than BT but there you go. I believe it normally uses a 5-6mbit connection but can run down to 1.5 ish - decent connection required then.

Good luck to them - it will be interesting to see the pricing... Reply0

The console Market seems absolutely ruthless right now and I don't see how that is going to change, especially for the next gen whenever that arrives. On a slighter happier note if any ex-devs from Black Rock are reading - Split/Second is a cracking game, thanks. Reply0

The ability to move from TV to U is quite nice, especially if you really need a poo or someone else is using it. Other than that I didn't see anything that really amazed me though I admit this is the first story I clicked on and haven't read anything else about it. Indeed some of the features seemed like they were trying a bit too hard. The baseball game - sure it changes the mechanic slightly but could be done on screen now and are you really going to browse the web like that???Still, not to be negative, anything that is a bit different is always welcome. Reply+6

@TonyHarrison - Too right. I paid £60 for Stunt Race FX on the SNES and probably more for Street Fighter Turbo Edition. Since when has anything Nintendo been about cheap gaming? I think the complaint about the comparative prices of iOS and DS games is fair enough. I doubt the implementation of a D-Pad control added much to the development costs, do you? If you own both devices you will vote with your wallet which is fine. If you only own a DS you have a right to be a bit miffed. Reply0

Great article which allows us old folk to come on and remember the world as it used to be. I am sure it is the modern day equivalent of your grandad talking about the war all the time.

Three points however I feel the need to bring up:

1 - Buying your weekly budget game was always a hit and miss affair as you just didn't know what you were getting - Kinder Surprise like really but sometimes the games were actually worth it. On the plus side I did get Booty and a wild west one whose title I can't remember which were great. On the downside I bought a game called Voyage into the Unknown by Mastertronic which was truly insipid. You could actually do anything in the game if I recall and it crashed with a BASIC error. I have nothing in my heart but hate for that one (there must be another person out there who made this error of judgement?)

2 - Crash! ran a joystick review which led me to buy the famous WICO reball - still in the attic and truly bullet proof despite the leaf switches which at least means it doesn't drive you as mental as a microswitched one which does nothing but click, click, click, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK......

3 - Airwolf. ...... Rock. Bloody. Hard. I maybe got to the third screen. I think this game would be banned today and put younger gamers off for life such was its difficulty curve (which was pretty much shaped like a wall going up a very long way). I did enjoy looking at the hologram on the cassette inlay though - very nice.... Reply+1

Not to let the truth get in the way of a good story, Apple did indeed file for the trademark several years ago which was initially refused but then temporarily allowed on the basis of evidence submitted by Apple. It then goes out to others to respond to this ruling in case someone doesn't agree - like MS in this case. I don't think there is any question of the companies suing each other at this stage.

As StooMonster rightly points out, where does the line get drawn when you have a word processor called Word etc... Reply+3

I forget what the thread was about now... Never mind. People are talking about Apple, Nintendo and Sony competing in the games marketplace. Thing is, dont think for a second that Apple are really competing at all. They still don't care that much about gaming as mentioned in my overly long post previously. They will support it as long as it is beneficial for them to do so but it is the developers and customers who are driving the platform onwards rather than the manufacturer. Reply+3

I am not convinced Apple are suddenly 100% behind gaming now but they are moving towards being a much more gamer friendly company. In the past Apple have made noises about getting behind gaming only for it to fizzle out once the publicity had died down, much to the frustration of users. Wasn't it John Carmack who said Apple simply wasn't interested in games?It seems to me that two events have happened which have moved Apple towards the notion that supporting games is a good thing. First is the arrival of Steam which has really helped boost the mac gaming platform overnight. Perhaps it is best described as an app store for mac games. Indeed it prompted Apple to release a specific games related driver update which is a first as far as I know! The second thing is the success if games in the app store for idevices. Sure, out of the 250,000 apps only a percentage are games but look at the charts and see the impact they are having. What is interesting to me is that Apple have not been instrumental at all in introducing games to any of their platforms. They may have developed the tools and delivery system to make it easy for any dev to get their products out there but it has been the devs and, importantly, the reaction of the paying public which have made gaming what it is on Apple's devices etc. Now Apple are making life a bit easier again and making it more attractive to devs with game centre by offering that coherent user experience which Apple likes so much. I don't see that as a major push towards gaming though, just refining the user experience to make gaming more attractive. Whatever you think about the devices or Apple you can't really deny it's relevance as a proper gaming platform. There is some great stuff out there and it is only getting better. Thing is this is happening whether Apple like it or not so they might as well support it. I don't think Apple will ever really be a gaming company (iConsole? Don't think so) but the day they exhibit at E3, maybe that will mark the start of real change. Reply+5

I would love a proper follow up to Elite or Frontier as much as the next one but where do you go with it? There are already loads of Elite-like titles from Oolite to Eve Online. It is hard to see where it would fit in though. Maybe A GTA in space is what we need?? Reply+1

@PlugMonkey: Can back that up - I have no friends :) so always play with randoms which can be a mixed bag. Some people out there are bloody excellent and you really pull together to get through on expert (or slaughtered on advanced). Of course that isn't always the case like the time when the other 3 were keen on me joining the Taliban, but that is a different story.....

Oh yes, if anyone has played it yet, how does it perform compared to L4D on PC? My iMac runs it just fine and hope that is still the case with the sequel... Reply+2

Ah yes, thanks for that, it was on the tip of my tongue but all I could get out was Xevious which is entirely different! Haven't played Super Stardust - still living with a PS2 and my PSP is gathering dust. To be honest, it is hard to bother with another machine other than the iPhone - it is just so convenient and there are so many decent games to play.....

If it makes you feel better MrED (sorry if that abbreviation makes you sound like a talking horse) I understood your post. For the record I disagree, Flight Control is a very good game but oh boy, I am truly crap at it. Indeed, my high [sic] score is 44.

geoDefense is an awesome game, both of them but there are so many great games out there. Draw Race is great when you are gaming on the go but need to keep your attention on the real world too as it doesn't demand your constant attention. Just picked up Meteor Blitz which is a great space based Berzerk* style shooter.

*Actually it is more like another game of old where there was a big scary face and sampled speech but the name escapes me at the moment... Reply0

There is no upgrade path as such as there was for the 3G coming out. You will have to buy out the rest of your contract and then buy the phone and start a new one. It depends how long left you have on your contract, I have another 12 months so I would only need £420ish to end my current contract and then buy a new 32GB iPhone which would be another £274. So that would make a fairly hefty £694 to get a new phone now. Oh yes, and as good as the tethering implementation looks, the fact you have to treat it as mobile internet means you pay £15 for the privilege.

It isn't cheap at all but then what did you expect? From a gaming point of view I hope the faster processor will lead to a more ambitious titles being produced. I think the upgrade is quite good from a hardware point of view - interesting to see how the battery performs in the real world. Reply0

It is a combination of things that has made the iPhone/Touch the success it is in such a short space of time. The delivery system is one of them for the reasons already stated by many posters already. The developers and consumers have made equal use of that delivery system to push the market forward to what it is today. The (mildly) interesting thing about the whole phenomena is that Apple never pushed or sold it as a gaming platform - games have never been on their priority list apart from now and again when they make the odd noise but never commit to anything.

The whole game market has been a result of developer, er.. developing what they fancy and consumers buying them. It just so happens games are doing rather well so more games come out which are bought and so on and so on... Meanwhile Apple have realised that games are rather important to the platform so promote them specifically now and again but even so, the majority of apps they advertise aren't games either.

The biggest problem with the delivery system is the pure number of apps and iTunes acting like a bottleneck. Sure you can find it all but there are just so many of the buggers it is hard to keep up (regardless of the type of app you are looking for). Reply0

The interesting thing is that Apple themselves have never been that interested in games. Of course they make the odd noise about it but it isn't what they are interested in (well, Steve Jobs anyway - ask John Carmack). It is unusual because if you look at Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo they are specifically gaming orientated with first party studios, marketing and so on. Apple have simply supplied a phone along with a dirt cheap way of developing and distributing your products. It was only a matter of time before games started to appear (though a surprise to me of the quantity and in some cases quality of titles). The games market on iPhone is being driven purely by developers and, in the end, the people buying them.

I find this quite refreshing, especially with the capabilities of the hardware, as devs are finding new ways to entertain us. All of this is happening independently of Apple themselves - sure they will use games as a marketing tool, but if you look at their marketing, they are just as interested in helping people find a sushi restaurant or calculate their tip at the end of said sushi.

@ Grayvern: Things move on, that is the way of technology (even more so with mobile technology). At some point a new iPhone will come out and the time will come when new games might not work. That's life isn't it? It will probably be time to get a new phone then anyway won't it?

Apple products all style over substance and too expensive? Well it is all a bit subjective isn't it? Why don't we all just buy the cheapest of everything - cars, computers, corn flakes? I have never felt overcharged when I have bought an Apple product and if you look beyond the spec sheet I think they are pretty competitive. They said themselves they don't do cheap - maybe they just aren't the products for you? I can't see where they style over substance comes from. I have been able to do things on my mac which would have taken more time and money on a windows machine - examples would be nice because I don't see what you are referring to here?

Oh yes... Rolando is very nice btw - might try Fieldrunners as a lot of you seem to recommend it.... Reply+1

Cimematics look great but then, so it should. I wonder if they are rendered with the in-game engine? Still, I liked Killzone (no really!), great scenario and artwork. It is a pity the PS2 just wasn't quite up to the job then. Lets hope it works out and I might have a reason to get a PS3.

Oh Beano - see what you are saying there. It looks like a tall order but then who would have thought they could fit GTA:SA on one DVD for PS2?? It is amazing what they can do these days :) Reply0

Not bothered about the figures for sales. What got my attention was the realisation GTA:SA was released in 2004!!! Is that right? I had better crack on with it - I have only completed about 30%!! Reply0

I think he was talking about the LOTR hack and slash style games from EA. I think they are probably the best movie tie-ins with regard to making a playable game and using the assets available from the films. By EA too, who would have thought it possible?? Reply0

We need something to freshen up FPS and as far as gaming goes, this looks quite interesting. The idea as a whole isn't very new though. Phillip K Dick wrote a book in the 60s called Man in the High Castle which was about the US being invaded and occupied by both Germany and Japan. Reply0

I guess if you weren't there the first time round you will never 'get' this kind of collection. If you were it ends up being either an enjoyable nostalgia trip or a harsh realisation of just how far gaming has come. Me? I side with the former! Reply0